[weaselnoze]

i cannot seem to get the water clear. it has a milky cloud to it although its not severe. i have 2 banana plants, the rest are fake. the filter is clean and working. i've done water changes etc. i dont believe i am overfeeding and i've used water clear drops several times. i cant kick it. i've read about bacterial blooms. how does one get rid of that? i think its affecting the inhabitants as 2 frogs came down with dropsy and died, one green tiger barb wasted away over 7 days or so, and the other green barb is starting to show wasting away symptoms. are the green tiger barbs more delicate?

 

[dprUsh83]

Do you have any water parameters that you can post?

 

[weaselnoze]

no sorry i havent done any water tests.

 

[JouteiMike]

Is the tank newly set up? Sounds like it's still cycling and going through a bacteria bloom like you stated. Only time will cure the tank of the cloudiness. Be sure to test the water, the reaults are needed to give you the best answer.

 

[weaselnoze]

tank is maybe a month old? it wasnt cloudy for the first few weeks.

 

[dprUsh83]

Did you go through the process of cycling the tank?

 

[tophat665]

Every cloudy tank I have I have been able to uncloud by removing some of the fish. My Loach holding tank was like skim milk before I moved a couple of them to the Loach Motel. Water changes in a white plastic bucket made it pretty clear that what looked white in the tank was actually a green algae bloom. Now that I have moved out the two Dojos and the Sand Loach (and replaced them with half their bioload in young female guppies) the water is crystal clear.

 

[JouteiMike]

Could you give more information about the tank?

Size
How many fish/what types
How often you feed
What you feed

A month is still a really new tank...sometimes it takes several months for a tank to fully cycle. The best bet is that it is still cycling, and is undergoing a bacteria bloom. The tank usually starts out crystal clear, and remains that way until an ammonia source is added. That's when the bacteria appear and make the water a milky color.

Just bare with it. Keep doing regular water changes...and test the water frequently. You want to have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and nitrates under 40. When vacuuming the gravel, don't go too crazy, maybe only vacuum 1/4 of the gravel each time, or non at all at times (depending on the fish load). This will ensure that you don't destroy and kill too much of the bacteria living in your gravel.

 

[crazie.eddie]

If that is your tank in your signature, then your tank is overstocked. Keep in mind that the general guideline for stocking a tank is 1" per 1 gallon of fish. This is usually for long bodied fish (tetras, guppies, etc). Wide bodied fish (angels, discus, etc.) are normally stocked at 1" per 2-3 gallons of water.

I suggest buying a test kit, but in the meanwhile, you should bring a sample of your water to your LFS/LPS. They should be able to test it for free.

 

[weaselnoze]

thanks for the info guys.. for the amount of fish i have in there, what size tank would be the right size? the tiger barbs are little dudes yet. about the size of a nickel.

 

[tophat665]

30 gallons minimum, probably more.. Tiger Barbs need lots of space.
If you were to get a 30 gallon tank, and leave your neons and gobies in the 10, you could probably add another 4 neons and make them all happier.

 

[girlofgod]

it could quite possibly be that the bio-load for your tank is too much for the bacteria, causing a spike in nitrates, which will feed an algae bloom. as will over-feeding. you might also try leaving your lights off. definitely should invest in SOME sort of test kit and post params here so we will know what the next step is. Good luck!

bri

 

[Kathryn]

I agree, the tank is badly overstocked. I am not very good at telling you how overstocked it is, but I know you need to get rid of a fair few of the fish, or get a much larger tank. At least double the size anyway. :wink:
Good luck.